Russ Williams - How to Walk yourself Healthy & Happy: Walking Exercise Advice For A Healthier Body and Mind

It is an undisputable medical fact that walking regularly does have significant health benefits and there really is no shortage of medical and scientific research to back up this claim.

If you want to get fitter, increase your lower body strength, maintain your balance, lose weight, control cholesterol and high blood pressure and a lot more besides then you really should consider adding walking to your fitness routine.

It could be a short walk to your local shop right the way through to a much longer walk with family and friends or in my case normally a four-legged friend.

Walking will help you burn calories and lose weight, control high blood pressure and even manage any elevated Cholesterol levels that you may have and that is just for starters.

I know some people sneer at walking. Why go to the Gym to get on a treadmill at 5mph say the naysayers? Whats the point?

In March of 2020, the Journal of the American Medical Association released findings of a major new survey on the effects of walking on people over 40 years of age.

They found that the more steps a person took the less chance they had of dying prematurely. Of course, certain criteria were taken into account like age, smoking, sex, health and education.

The findings were compelling.

4860 people took part in the survey and were each given a tracker to count their steps per day.

They found over-40s could take just 8,000 steps a day to lower the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases and cancer by 50%.

By increasing the number of steps from 4,000 to 8,000, researchers concluded that the middle-aged lower their risk of death also by 50%.

Step monitoring in more than 4,800 adults aged 40 or over implies that higher step counts lower the chance of death from any cause over a 10-year period.

Taking 12,000 steps a day lowers the risk by 65 percent, while taking just 2,000 steps increases the risk of death by 50 percent.

Of the 4,840 participants, each took an average 9,124 steps a day.

So, as it turns out if you currently do not walk regularly you are missing out on the proven benefits of exercise walking as an extremely effective physical activity whether you do it outdoors or indoors.

Walking can be as good a workout, if not better, than running according to Dr Matt Tannenberg, CSCS, a sports Chiropractor and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist in the US.

John Ford a certified exercise physiologist points this out While I would love to say that walking can be just as effective as a workout, Im not going to lie to you. In fairness the two shouldnt be compared against each other.

Running, due to larger muscle recruitment, greater forces exerted and fast motion capability, will always have the leg up on walking.

Hes right, walking may not be a better work out, but it certainly IS a better exercise choice for many people.

Walking is a great form of exercise too and is really effective in helping people reach their desired fitness goals and losing weight.

A lot of medical professionals recommend walking as their suggested workout over running because of its numerous benefits.

There have been comparison studies undertaken to compare the medical benefits for runners vs walkers and for people who were brisk walkers they had similar results to the runners over a 6-year period.

Pretty prominent health markers were achieved by people walking at a moderate intensity and boosted and protected their health just as well as running.

Great news for those of us who are filled with dread at the prospect of going for a jog!

This book will explain the many physical and mental improvements that are derived from regular walking, show you the various types of walking that you can do based entirely on your level of fitness and provide you with all the proof that you need to actually get some walking shoes on and get out there to getter fitter and mentally happier.

My name is Russ Williams and for the last 36 years I have been a broadcaster, journalist and occasional author and now I am a serial walker and have never felt better.

The irony is that I spent a huge amount of my career time at work in the most sedentary state possible sitting in studios or just sat staring at a computer screen.

I played the occasional round of golf and did the odd bit of gardening and never entertained the idea of joining a Gym which I see, rightly or wrongly, as tedious places full of over competitive types who were out to intimidate me physically.

Around 15 years ago I had a dog called Daisy a sprightly Staffordshire Bull terrier who was able to enjoy a large garden to play in but was clearly keen for walks.

That was when I decided that my responsibility to the dog meant that I too had to start going for regular Walkies.

This we did on a regular basis until she sadly died just over 6 years ago from cancer and partial blindness. The day I had to say goodbye to her remains one of the saddest days of my life.

Almost as a tribute to her and our bonding time together for months after her passing I kept walking the same routes that we had done so regularly.

I found it comforting and in a strange kind of way often felt her presence. It was enormously comforting.

After a while I realized that my body needed to walk and craved the benefits that I have briefly touched on already.

I remember having my blood pressure taken by a nurse at my doctors surgery and she said it was borderline hypertension - the area of the BP scale that the medical profession considers a holding area to full blown high blood pressure.

The nurse said if I could do half an hours moderate exercise 3 times a week it would probably lower my blood pressure provided, I wasnt eating a diet of fast food, drinking large volumes of alcohol and didnt smoke.

Well, fast food wasnt really my scene. I did enjoy a few beers but nothing over the top and fortunately for my alcohol intake I loathe the taste of spirits.

The Elephant in the nurses room was smoking. I knew it was wrong, but I strangely enjoyed it and I was addicted. Dont get me wrong I wasnt a 20 a day merchant but smoking seemed part of my very being.

So, I decided to take up walking with Daisy and whilst heeding most of the nurses advice carried on enjoying tobacco.

My mindset was if I do some regular exercise then my health would be improved if not saved by the everything in moderation mantra.

Sure enough I burnt off a little fat and my blood pressure did drop to acceptable levels for my age. I could breathe easier, I felt fitter and walking almost became like a must have drug for my body and its welfare.

That was 15 years ago and even though I no longer have Daisys love and companionship to encourage me I do have a very fit and demanding Staffordshire Bull terrier called Lottie whose physical demands are even more considerable.

Before Lottie it was just a walk for all the right reasons but with her in my life, I had to up my game to the further benefit of my health.

We had to walk faster and for longer and over fields and through forests Lottie is high-energy and inquisitive, she thinks paths are boring!

Today a typical week would see us walk around 25 to 28 miles a week together. We have one complete day off and another day is almost like a warm down day in the same way a footballer warms down after a match or after training.

Lottie would walk forever 7 days a week because she is a typical Staffie. Relentless.

I call her my Gym.

A typical walking week for us would be say 28 miles which equates to 1345 miles a year not far off twice the length of the UK.